


party of one (the only other lonely soul)

by milfbyers



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27040786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milfbyers/pseuds/milfbyers
Summary: thanks for reading <3 let me know what you think!milfbyers on twitter
Relationships: Joyce Byers/Karen Wheeler
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	party of one (the only other lonely soul)

neither of them meant for the fight to escalate like it did. but joyce had a habit of retreating into herself when voices were raised and karen had a habit of sharpening the edges of her insults when things weren’t going her way. 

they were cooking dinner together. it was a routine the two had fallen into, dinner on saturday nights because karen found joyce’s lack of talent in the kitchen to be appalling and breakfast on sunday mornings as a thank you for the cooking lesson (and sex in between just because). but something joyce said about the pta meeting that past week had poked a little too hard at karen.

“i didn’t mean anything by it, honey, i was just kidding-” but her attempt at an apology was cut short when karen barked out a bitter laugh and spat out, “well it wasn’t very funny, joyce. maybe try something that actually makes me laugh next time, okay?” 

joyce had retreated well before karen, her responses to every insult after that was a quick “okay, karen” or “i understand”. she was finished with the argument and supported her decision by facing the stove with her back to karen. but the short responses and defeated body language just fueled karen more.

karen stood with her arms crossed across her chest and her cheeks were flushed with anger. “i run a well managed pta group, maybe you should take notes and see how you can apply it to your ex husband that ran-” but joyce was turning around before she could finish and the hurt across her face had karen losing the rest of her sentence to guilt.

now, they stood on opposite sides of the kitchen. they were both too aware of the boundaries of the battle field they had created and the mess that now cluttered the empty space between them. joyce was shaking. she made an attempt to hide it by crossing her arms across her chest but karen knew her too well. 

she could see the tension in joyce’s shoulders. she watched the other woman chew on her bottom lip, too lost in thought to be insecure of karen’s stare. karen was aware she had gone too far. she didn’t mean to but she was so caught up in the anger. it was the only way she could pull a response out of ted and now she had hurt joyce with her choice of bad habits. 

karen gripped her purse tight to her chest. her hand was resting on the door frame, the only anchor that pulled her to the front door. she had to leave before it was too late. she wasn’t going to stick around after this. the damage was done and she was leaving with her tail tucked between her legs. 

the plea was quiet and if she wasn’t aching to hear it, karen would’ve missed joyce’s whisper of “please don’t go”. her hand dropped back down to her side immediately. she looked at joyce for the first time since the fight ended. joyce’s nose was running and her eyes were red, tears still leaving wet tracks down her cheeks. “you know i- i still- that we’re- i just don’t want you to leave and think we’re done” the confession was honest even if her voice was shaky. 

“oh, joyce” karen’s voice was dripping with embarrassment and her shoulders were heavy with guilt. she dropped her purse on the table on her way to pull joyce into her arms. her hands found joyce’s waist as soon as she was in reach. “i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have said-” but joyce was leaning forward to press her forehead against karen’s and she knew her apology was accepted before she had the opportunity to say it. “i think you’ve done enough talking tonight,” joyce let out a shaky laugh and her hands were grasping at karen’s sweater, eager to have the other woman close to her again. 

“i’m still sorry. let me give you that.” karen offered, she took a step back after pressing a kiss to joyce’s forehead. she glanced around the kitchen. abandoned ingredients littered the kitchen counter and cold sauce sat in a pan on the stove. “and let me clean up this mess and make us a real dinner, okay?” 

joyce nodded, a smiling playing on her lips, “i get to pick the movie tonight.” karen laughed and she reached out to joyce, her hand pulling at the sleeve of her shirt. when karen was close enough, she pressed a kiss to joyce’s temple and said, “don’t pick anything scary, you know i hate those.”

karen watched her turn to head to the living room. she had almost reached the doorway when joyce said,“i know you do… which is why we’re watching them.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading <3 let me know what you think!
> 
> milfbyers on twitter


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